Ordinands are allocated a Journal Tutor, appointed by SWMTC in consultation with the sponsoring church and the candidate. They are based in local communities and work independently of the core SWMTC staff.
LLMs (Readers) in training are allocated a Journal Tutor, appointed by SWMTC. Information is available for download below.
Role of the Journal Tutor
The role of the Journal Tutor is to:
- Encourage the student to reflect upon their personal development – growth in personal awareness, relationships with others, and spiritual life – through maintaining a learning journal and portfolio.
- Explore the impact of the course on the student’s faith and understanding of the church, vocation, and ministry.
- Enable a learning process to take place as the student responds to and reflects on the experiences of training and preparation for ordained/licensed ministry.
Journal Tutors are expected to support – to build supportive relationships of trust and confidence from early on. It is important to be clear that the Journal Tutor is not part of the evaluative and assessment side of the Course. The Journal Tutor uses the student’s reflections in their learning journal to explore how they have responded to the different elements of the programme, what they are learning as a result, where difficulties or pressure points arise, and how these can be addressed. The concern throughout is to help the student to become more critically reflective on their experience.
Journal Tutors are expected to challenge – to ask the difficult questions in order to promote and enable a more rigorous and demanding process of exploration.
Responsibilities of the Journal Tutor
The Journal Tutor undertakes to:
- Meet with the student at least five times each year soon after each residential event. Normally the student travels to the Tutor.
- Write a confidential report to the SWMTC Principal each year, which will contribute to the End of Year Report assessing progress in training and suitability for continued training or ordination.
- Meet with the staff and other Journal Tutors at least annually to reflect on the programme and the role of Journal Tutors.
Journal Tutors are not responsible for setting or marking any written work, nor for pastoral care of the student’s family.
